The woman shouted as she was captured by the soldiers to be dragged to the place of execution.

“No! I’m not Carinne!”

Her appearance was a mess.

Her red hair, which used to be alluring and shiny, was now frizzy, and her face, which used to be clean and free of any blemishes, was now stained with dirt. Adding to that was her chapped lips.

The woman’s eyes that used to shine like amethysts were now dim. The glamorous and beautiful woman who was once sought after in the social world was thrown before the crowd in her most miserable form.

“Please listen to me! My body has changed! I am Olivia!” she cried out, tears in her eyes.

But no one listened to her.

“That vicious woman is talking nonsense.”

“Blinded by jealousy, she tried to kill her younger sister and His Majesty the Crown Prince, yet she acts so shamelessly!”

Instead, the people threw stones and spit on her.

Carinne, no, Olivia desperately pleaded her innocence, but it was to no avail.

She struggled, but soon she was on the guillotine.

The executioner began to list her misdeeds. Every time one of Carinne’s numerous misdeeds was revealed, the crowd became even more enraged.

“… Hence, Carinne Brienne is sentenced to the death penalty for attempting to poison the Crown Prince.”

Her worst sin was attempting an assassination on the royal family. It was the crime that led to her death sentence.

Carinne had long been jealous of her sister Olivia. Then, when Olivia became engaged to the Crown Prince, she tried to poison her.

Unfortunately, the Crown Prince drank the poisoned tea instead.

The royal family was shocked. As the investigation proceeded, all of Carinne’s past deeds and crimes were revealed.

The death sentence was unanimously decided at the trial, which was conducted swiftly.

The case seemed to end with the death of Carinne Brienne, the villain of the story.

However, a few days before the execution, Olivia and Carinne’s bodies were swapped.

“Ugh! Hmmf!”

Olivia struggled, her hands bound with rope.

She still couldn’t believe what had happened to her. It was so shocking that it felt like it wasn’t real.

‘This must be a dream. No, it has to be a dream.’

Last night, Olivia was sleeping in her bed in the Imperial Palace.

But, when she opened her eyes, her surroundings were completely different.

The stone wall that was damp and filled with moss, a fishy smell that pervaded her sense of smell, and the cold air that pricked her skin were not in any way similar to Olivia’s room.

It was a prison. At the same time, another shocking realization struck her.

‘My body has changed…!’

Olivia had become Carinne.

To be precise, her soul was in Carinne’s body.

‘Then, my body…’

Her head quickly went blank. Then, soldiers stormed into the prison to take her to the place of execution.

It all happened so quickly that there was no way to fix the situation.

“She’s an evil woman who tried to assassinate His Majesty the Crown Prince!”

“Hurry and kill her!”

Unable to come to her senses, Olivia barely raised her face.

She moved slowly as if her neck was broken. Soon, Crown Prince Edwin, who was seated at the top, came into her view.

The person next to him, holding Edwin’s arm tenderly and whispering something in his ear…

‘Carinne!’

Olivia widened her eyes in shock and let out a silent scream.

It was Carinne inside of Olivia’s body.

The Crown Prince nodded as Carinne got up from her seat.

Olivia looked at her as she approached her.

“I have something to share with my sister, so can you please step back for a moment?”

“But…….”

“It’s okay. Even the Crown Prince allowed it.”

The soldiers hesitated for a moment and then retreated.

Carinne approached Olivia, lowered herself, and hugged her tenderly.

To someone who did not know the truth, it seemed like a gesture of forgiveness for her sister, who was about to die.

But to Olivia, who was actually suffering, the touch was not such a gesture.

Even if she wanted to reject it, her hands were tied with a rope, and she couldn’t move.

“Olivia, how are you feeling?”

Carinne whispered to her ears.

“How does it feel? To die for my sins.”

She wanted to scream, but an unintelligible sound came from her gagged mouth.

Carinne smiled as she watched Olivia squirm.

“Stupid.”

She uttered those words with Olivia’s voice.

“You ate the curse in the form of poison every day without realizing it.”

Poison? Curse?

‘Why are you doing this…?’

Because Olivia was engaged to the Crown Prince? Did Carinne really do this out of jealousy?

After seeing her eyes, which were full of questions, Carinne burst out laughing.

Then she spoke softly,

“Let’s just say you’re unlucky.”

Sympathy seemed to flash across Carinne’s face for a moment.

As soon as she returned to her expressionless face, she whispered coldly.

“Even though I didn’t mean to harass you, if there are obstacles in the way, we have no choice but to clear them.”

Olivia couldn’t understand what Carinne was saying.

She wanted to ask, but her voice couldn’t come out.

“You’ll die without knowing anything.”

Carinne, who was savoring the shock and pain on Olivia’s face, opened her mouth again.

“So accept it. That’s the only thing you can do.”

She was smiling with a gentle and calm face even though she had just pushed someone to death.

Olivia’s whole body began to convulse. However, it was unknown whether this was because of the despair or because of her anger toward Carinne.

Carine smiled mischievously as she looked at Olivia.

“So, will you die for me now?”

〈Reversed Lady〉

The end.

The moment I read the last sentence, I doubted my eyes.

“Could that even be called an ending?”

The words ‘The end’ were disappointing.

I still couldn’t believe it. When I scrolled down, there was a sentence written by the author that I had never seen before.

It was only one line.

[The true protagonist of was Carinne.]

“Does this make sense?”

I almost threw the cell phone I was holding. The heroine, Olivia, was my favorite character.

I supported her journey through adversity and admired her positive outlook.

At first, I thought that it was not a severe sweet potato novel*, but then the author proved otherwise. It was the worst sweet potato novel I had ever read.

*TL/N: A novel that’s so frustrating that it leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Like the title, Reversed Lady, I looked forward to the heroine that would prevail despite the odds against her.

But the twist was that Carinne, the ultimate villain, was the main character?

Not surprisingly, the comment section was filled with clamors from readers who had already read the ending.

Half of it was cursing and the other half was an earnest request.

[Author, this is only the end of Part 1, right? I hope this isn’t really the end.]

[Write a story about Olivia’s return and revenge! Please!]

[I don’t think it’s really going to end like this.]

The author’s name stood out to me, ‘Sweet Potato Villain’.

Only then did I realize who the real villain of this novel was.

Unable to contain the boiling anger, my finger pressed the keys on the phone.

[I wasn’t going to make comments like this, but isn’t the ending too harsh for Olivia? It was to an extent that I wanted to take revenge on her behalf.]

Of course, I never dreamed that these words would come true, but just like how Olivia and Carinne’s bodies were swapped, I had entered Olivia’s body while sleeping.

As soon as I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the ceiling with a strangely antique decoration.

‘What?’

‘I was lying on a folding mattress in my semi-underground room just a little while ago.’

I got up from the bed I was in now and looked around hurriedly.

The stylish four-person bed was so wide that even when I spread my arms, I couldn’t reach the edges.

This bed also had a canopy.

Instead of the high-neck sweater and sweatpants I wore as a substitute for pajamas when I first went to sleep, I was wearing actual pajamas with elegant lace decorations on my chest.

‘What is all of this…’

As I was getting out of bed, I got startled when I touched the floor with the soles of my feet.

There was surprisingly a soft rug on the floor.

I scrutinized my surroundings and saw a well-lit room with neat wallpaper, furniture, and two spacious windows.

There was also a small flower pot with fresh red flowers on the window sill.

“Wait, this is a scene I recognize,”

I mumbled unintentionally, then got startled by my voice.

‘That was coming from my throat?’

I didn’t know this language before, but I could speak and understand it naturally.

‘No way, right…?’

However, my head had already come to a conclusion.

I took a long breath and exhaled.

Of course, it wasn’t that I never dreamed of having a new life from possessing a story protagonist who had everything.

When I had those dreams, I was an orphan, and I was frustrated by my harsh life of going back and forth between part-time jobs.

Now I was suddenly here… But, the most important question was, ‘Who did I become?’

When I turned around, I saw a mirror on the wall.

I truly understood why so many possessors looked for mirrors in the first place.

The first law of possession.

It was when someone became a character in the novel they read about right before the moment of possession, or a character that they liked the most.

“At least, please don’t be Olivia…”

Just because someone liked a person didn’t mean they wanted to be that person.

The two are completely separate things.

Who would want to be a fake female lead who ended up with a bad ending?

But I had never been so lucky in my life.

My ominous premonitions were always right, so much so that fortune-tellers might’ve gone out of business.

I prayed earnestly for the first time to God, who I never believed in before. But, of course, God wouldn’t forgive the arrogant human who was once an atheist.

“…”

The mirror reflected gorgeous blonde hair that cascaded down to the waist, green eyes reminiscent of emeralds, clear skin as if sprinkled with pearl powder, and long, slender limbs.

There was a beautiful woman reflected in the mirror, but I knew better and held my hair in frustration.

Out of all the characters, I became the younger sister who swapped bodies with her villainess older sister and died?

If I had possessed Carinne, I would have had a happy ending.

It seemed that there was no luck for me in this life either. I grabbed my hair for a while, then lifted my head and met my eyes in the mirror.

“Calm down. I can’t die like that.”

I had to survive somehow.

I slowly pondered where, and how, to begin with my survival plan.

“First of all, I need to find out how the plot had progressed…”

Just as I was recalling the original story, I heard a rattle and a light ringing of a bell outside the door of the room.

“Lady Olivia, this is Mary.”

‘Hm?’

I narrowed my eyes.

Usually, the maids appearing around this time were loud enough to make their eardrums ring, and the door was bound to burst open.

But of course, they didn’t hesitate to do so.

Rudeness, contempt, and clever harassment from the maids were basic examples of a pitiful female protagonist in a sweet potato novel.

But, somehow…

“If my lady has woken up, can I come in?”

Her tone and choice of words were unexpectedly polite.

I blinked my eyes in confusion and met my eyes in the mirror again.

At that moment, a buzzing sound echoed in my head.

Olivia’s memories were being recalled little by little as if a light switch had been turned on.

The feeling of having someone else’s memories in my head was something that I couldn’t explain in words.

I thought while accepting her memories,

‘What?’

Suddenly, the transfer was cut off.

The reason was unknown.

It was certain, however, that only a fraction of Olivia’s memories had been recovered.

However, most of what I had recalled was more like information about this world rather than Olivia’s personal memories.

It felt like reading about a world or background description in a game.

‘At least I gained something.’

According to Olivia’s memories, this was earlier than the beginning of the novel.

Because the first incident in the novel hasn’t happened yet.

“My Lady, are you still sleeping?”

When the bell rang once more, I quickly came to my senses and answered,

“I’m awake, so you can come in.”

Then the door opened.

The maid who came in was a young-looking girl with plain brown hair and freckles.

I knew her name.

It was Mary, who was Olivia’s personal maid.

She was an extra that didn’t appear often in the original story.

Because, despite being Olivia’s maid, she neglected her work.

Thanks to that, Olivia often skipped meals, had an unorganized room, and experienced many other inconveniences.

“Good morning, my lady. You woke up earlier than usual today. Did you sleep well last night?”

I narrowed my brows slightly. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was rising in the middle of the sky.

‘Come to think of it, I think I read somewhere that nobles wake up later than others.’

I nodded my head, ignoring Mary’s question.

It was a good time to explore my situation, so I decided to not say anything frivolous or do something that stood out too easily.

“I’m glad you’re in good shape.”

Mary was too polite.

To the extent that it felt rather strange.

In the novel, Olivia had to endure her pain until she was freed from Viscount Brienne with the help of the Crown Prince.

Her father, Viscount Brienne, abused her, and her servants also secretly insulted and harassed her.

Because of that, I was skeptical of Mary’s actions.

‘Even if they are a different person now, it was too different.’

I had scoured through Olivia’s few memories, but couldn’t find any helpful information.

‘How could this be?’

It was strange.

I haven’t done anything yet to change the flow of the story.

Usually, the information about the original story was useful.

It was every possessor’s cheat sheet.

However, now that the initial settings have changed, the information I had was useless.

‘It seems like my journey ahead will not be a smooth one,’

I instinctively realized.

Then, Mary spread a white cloth on the table and spoke politely again,

“Now then, how about eating breakfast?”

‘Breakfast?’

Mary went out the door again, and soon came in, pushing a large tray.

With skillful hand movements, she began to place the plates on the table.

The food was surprisingly plentiful.

There was a light yet savory soup, a salad with fresh seasonal fruits, soft and warm bread and cheese, and a juicy steak.

‘Something is really wrong.’

If it wasn’t Olivia’s world that I had transmigrated to, I would have been able to enjoy the meal with happiness while exchanging jokes with the maids.

But right now, everything was too suspicious.

Even more so in this situation, where the gap between the original story and the current events was too enormous.

“Come on and have a taste.”

Perhaps it was strange to Mary that I was just staring at the table, so she said those words.

But in a situation where vigilance and doubts had already begun to sprout inside me, I could not raise my spoon easily.

It would be natural not to be able to do that.

The maid reassured me, as if to comfort me,

“You should eat some today. You haven’t eaten a proper meal in a while.”

I found a hint in her words.

‘Is Olivia’s health deteriorating?’

Come to think of it, Mary told me about my condition as soon as she saw me.

‘But my body seems to be fine.’

I checked my body just in case, but there was no particular pain or discomfort.

Once I had a hint of the situation, I nodded and said,

“I’m alright.”

“I’m really glad you’re feeling a lot better,”

Mary said with a smile.

It was a very gentle smile that comforted my heart.

If I had transmigrated here without knowing anything, I would have fallen for her kindness.

...  ...

The child didn’t respond to Yuria’s words, but she didn’t rush him to answer.

She couldn’t bear to leave the child alone, so she brought it up. However, you can’t just hold someone’s hand whom you barely know and met for the first time.

It will eventually be the child’s burden in the end. He also needs some time to think and be certain of his decision.

Yuria was willing to wait.

When she asked the child to go with her, her question contained compassion until she made that decision, but there’s also something deep inside her.

A life that didn’t feel the true meaning of living. She had lived so weakly like a swaying reed in the midst of extreme loneliness and deprivation.

It was Yuria who was already used to living her life for others rather than loving herself. Then she met a child that seemed to need her help.

She hoped that she could find the meaning of life with that child.

If she was with this child, it might be possible for her to escape this extreme loneliness and emptiness. If she was with this child, a child living his life like hers, it might be possible for her to escape the trauma of her childhood, giving a different life to the child. For Yuria who needed someone to hold out their hands, for Yuria who eventually didn’t get the help she wanted and grew up incomplete, it might be possible for her to have hope to see a child who received hope and living a better life.

Her actions and choices were with those expectations and thoughts. Living in this world was particularly difficult.

She suddenly woke up here after living 20 years of her life in Korea, and even though half a year already passed, it wasn’t enough to be fully adjusted to this world and get along well with people living here.

Here, Yuria always felt alienated and treated like she was a different person. Even with the acquainted villagers, they only ever exchanged light greetings, but they were strangers regardless.

For her, if she settled here with the child, then perhaps she would feel attached to this place.

A long time had already passed, but the child didn’t answer and stayed still.

Yuria trembled in the biting cold as time passed. The cold here was incomparable to the winter season in Korea. Although she lived here for already past half a year, she thought that she was already used to the cold, but it was still too much and too hard for her to handle. Her face, hands, and feet turned frozen blue before she knew it.

The child looked at her quietly. An emotion flashed in his eyes in a brief moment in his expressionless face.

He had a face asking why she was with him even though she shivered in cold, and his expectations seemed to rise that she might differ from the other people, but it also disappeared in an instant.

For a child who was deeply wounded, it was still difficult to accept the unfamiliar emotions inside him.

Yuria looked at him when he turned away his head.

In a relatively tight bundle, the child still seemed cold. He would get sick at that rate. He looked better than her for some reason, but was still in a critical condition as if he would collapse at any moment.

So she was even more worried. She couldn’t let him stay here, but the child looks like he didn’t want to go. In response, Yuria stayed with the child in the cold.

The day set, and a new day had dawned.

Yuria has a resolute expression on her face that she couldn’t do it anymore (because of the cold) and soon after, she got up.

Then pretending he wasn’t a little kid, the child quietly looked at Yuria.

In his eyes were complex emotions that were hard to describe; even the child had no idea and couldn’t understand his own feelings at all.

At first, it was just the thought that ‘finally she’s leaving’, but when he realized that, his chest felt cold rather than his whole body.

Yuria, who got up, looked at the child, “Wait here for a minute, I’ll be back.”

He didn’t know if he should believe what she just said. He thought that maybe she was also like those people who eventually left his side. Unlike his small stature, his wound was deeper and bigger. But for Yuria, she didn’t want to just leave the child without a word – for a child who held expectations that got hurt.

When Yuria disappeared, the child raised his blank face again. His fingers twitched, as if he wanted to hold her, but couldn’t as if he’s at loss with his uncertainties.

Anxious and desperate, the child shook his head.

Nothing was surprising – it was natural for him to be alone. He had to be alone.

He never held anything in his hand the moment he was born. He had nothing. He never lost anything. He didn’t know the feeling of losing something.

Yuria returned after a while holding a basket in her hand with food in it to share with the child.

There was a thick blanket inside. She wanted to bring the child to her house but she couldn’t do it unless the child gave her permission to do so. The blanket she brought with her wouldn’t completely dispel the cold in the child’s body, but it would be better than only having a thin coat over him.

She also didn’t know how long the child had been starved, so she brought food because she was worried the child might be starving.

She was hungry all day today after only having breakfast the day before as an adult, so how much more painful was it for the child?

The cold wind made the freshly-made food cold and lukewarm, but it would be better than starving.

Yuria naturally covered the child’s body with the blanket she had brought. The blanket was tied like a cloak, shielding the child from the shivering cold.

It must’ve been nice and warm to have a blanket with several layers. With this, she hoped to convey the warmth she couldn’t personally deliver.

“There’s so much food here. Do you want to eat with me?” Yuria said carefully as she took out food from the basket.

The child looked at Yuria blankly, as if he had heard something unexpected, a questionable expression rising on his face. He didn’t know why she said that.

However, the child’s hands trembled when he saw the food on the basket. Just because he refused to eat didn’t mean he wasn’t hungry. He hasn’t eaten for a long time.

He was used to being hungry, but that wasn’t enough for him to turn a blind eye to the food in front of him. In the end, the starved child was in big trouble.

I want to eat, but can I eat it? Me? Someone like me? That kind of… human food?

Noticing the child’s behavior, Yuria muttered to herself, “I may have to throw it away if there are leftovers…”

Not easily reaching out to the food, the child was clearly agitated.

Yuria wasn’t in a hurry, because the mere fact that she saw the child responding gave her a little hope.

Meanwhile, the child’s hands continued to tremble, repeatedly opening and closing.

With a painful expression, Yuria looked at the child’s hand, red from the cold.

The child’s hand looked as small and fragile as that of a toddler.

With small expectations, Yuria grabbed a piece of food and offered it to the child.

The child’s eyes turned to Yuria, asking, Can I really eat this myself?

“Baby, I prepared this for you.”

Yuria looked to the child with a friendly expression and spoke in a gentle voice to reassure him.

The child carefully took the food from Yuria’s hands after a while and hurriedly put it in his mouth.

Have I eaten for a long time?

It was the first time he hesitated. Once the child put the food in his mouth, he finished all the food in the basket without leaving any for Yuria’s share.

Realizing it too late, the child looked at Yuria with wide eyes, staring right into her.

“I’m okay.” Yuria said in a friendly voice.

Carefully examining her eyes, the eyes looking at Yuria were both lovely and painful as if she had caught him eating all the food and scolded him.

He was like a puppy afraid of being abandoned by the warmth of its owner.

His shoulders collapsed with both of his hands clasped together. He seemed to be blaming himself. His expression didn’t ease even with Yuria’s words.

“Oh, I’m full.”

Seeing the child’s eyes filled with worry and anxiety, Yuria muttered lightly as if she was talking to herself.

Although she only ate breakfast yesterday and she was very hungry right now, she couldn’t show it to the child.

She was confident in her health, confident that she won’t collapse even if she starved for one more day. Her first priority was to fill the empty child’s stomach than hers, an adult.

The child still looked at Yuria even after those words. His hearing was exceptionally better several times than an ever-age person, and he could hear the light rumbling of Yuria’s stomach. He became frightened.

What if she beats him up because he had been rude to other people?

He was confident of being hit and enduring the pain with it, but he still hated it. Then another anxiety comes to him.

What if Yuria abandoned him?

He didn’t even know why he thought that way when it was natural for him to be left behind.

But the person in question didn’t want to leave him.

Maybe he instinctively thought that Yuria was different from the others, adding the great kindness in her actions.

Yuria realized that her words could not calm the child’s anxiety.

Since it had only been a day since she met the child, it would be impossible for her to win the child’s trust.

Yuria just kept quiet and stayed by the child’s side, hoping that the child won’t stare at her anymore.

Yuria’s actions worked. When Yuria showed no action, the child was relieved. He felt a mysterious spark as Yuria stayed with him.

The sun set again and shined again. It was the second day since she had faced the bitter cold.

The cold that penetrated in the meantime got more brutal, but Yuria wasn’t too worried because she was used to the cold.

Especially when it came to health and strength, she’s confident that she won’t be sick. I won’t collapse.

Yuria’s body was incredibly strong, which may be the aftermath of coming to this world. She didn’t even catch a cold even after she wandered the cold mountains for half a day in the middle of the winter.

Being accustomed to saying that she will come back to the child, Yuria came back to her home to fill her stomach.

Before she knew it, five days had already passed.

Yuria didn’t force anything on the child, and she didn’t want anything. They just ate food together and stayed with each other.

Yuria got up and habitually said to the child that she will be back.

It was then, “……Me too.”

It was a very quiet voice, but Yuria was focusing on the child, so she heard it clearly. Only two words came out of the child’s mouth, but Yuria could understand what he said right away.

She quietly held her hand out, and the child, who had been hesitating for a while, grabbed her hand.

The child’s hands were colder than the wind.

Even Yuria, whose hands were already frozen in the cold, was startled by his hands.

Yuria didn’t shake off his hand and instead, they walked for a long time deep into the forest – heading home.

And that’s how Yuria and the child started living together.

...  ...